


3:30 AM in DeMayo Hall

by Jingle



Series: Incidents at Temple University (Steven Universe College AU) [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Camp Pining Hearts, Explicit Language, Fire - Referenced, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, No Name Changes, Not Beta Read, Past Character Death, Podfic Welcome, Pre-Femslash, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 15:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jingle/pseuds/Jingle
Summary: Lapis wants to sleep. Peridot's headphones aren't working. Things escalate quickly.





	3:30 AM in DeMayo Hall

**Author's Note:**

> This is not Beta Read, so all mistakes are mine. (I have found my Beta Reader going forward, though!)

It hadn’t even been three weeks, and Lapis Lazuli was ready to throw her roommate out the window. They were three stories up, and her roommate was _tiny_. Lapis was pretty sure she could really end all her problems that way.

Okay, so maybe Lapis didn’t really have murderous intentions, but damn it all if she’s not getting there. And it was all because her roommate, Peridot Greene, didn’t seem to have any handle on the concept of time, or at least, what hours or reasons are appropriate for disrupting Lapis’ sleep. (Incidentally, that was a big ol’ ‘none’. If DeMayo Hall was on fire at four in the morning, you _let her burn_.)

When they’d communicated over the summer, Peridot had seemed… Fine. A little blunt and dry, but so was Lapis, herself. Apparently something had happened since their last exchange of emails, though, or Peridot was just really good at faking it over written communication, because oh God, her roommate was a _total nerd_.

And that was fine. Lapis really could care less about… Anything regarding her roommate. She hadn’t wanted one, but her mother had insisted it would be good for her to have someone she could talk to while away from home. And then, because she’d pulled her own trigger – the idea of Lapis being away from home – she started crying. Again. There had been a lot of tears on her mom’s end that summer. Not so much on Lapis’. Getting away from her home in Pennsylvania; heading out to Massachusetts – that was good. Anyway, really, Lapis had no idea how much her mom was crying over her daughter leaving, and how much was about her sister’s (Lapis’ Aunt) passing a few months prior. Lapis hadn’t cried about that, either.

But right. The fact that Peridot was a total nerd was fine. Again, it was the fact that Peridot like to be a total nerd starting between three and four in the morning that was a problem. Lapis was never out partying – or even getting back from that – then. She hadn’t come to college for that, but she had come to college to study and get work done, which meant staying up pretty late. And, night after night, Peridot’s hobbies would interrupt her precious sleep.

As if the light from her desk lamp and laptop weren’t enough, Peridot was needlessly loud. She’s squeal in only-slightly muffled excitement. She’d type so hard and fast and _noisily_ that Lapis wondered how her keyboard wasn’t completely broken already. And – get this… While she at least had the decency (sanity) to wear headphones when watching her weird camp show, she would talk. To the characters. _All the time_.

The night where Peridot’s headphones apparently stopped working and she decided Lapis must be in a deep enough sleep to watch the damn show at half-past-three was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Maybe, to a degree, it was Lapis’ fault. (Lapis always thought things were her fault, to a degree.) Maybe if she’d let Peridot _know_ how she kept waking her up, instead of lying in bed and _stewing_ … Well, maybe then Peridot wouldn’t have been under the impression that Lapis was a far deeper sleeper than she was.

But honestly, Lapis only considered that later. When the sound of Peridot’s crappy, static-y laptop speakers woke her that morning, she was seeing red. It was Tuesday. On Tuesdays, she had her Computer Graphics class – also known as her, “Well, shit, I have to take three more courses for my art major, and this one’s not full.” class. Also known as her _hardest_ class, at least for Lapis.

“What,” she hissed, “are you doing?”

Peridot yelped. Because apparently _Lapis’ noise_ had startled _her_ , which was just _rich_. Once she regained composure, though, she smiled – it was strained; sort of nervous, but a smile all the same – and turned around, straddling the back of her chair to face Lapis. “I’m watching Camp Pining Hearts, of course. You want to join in? I’m watching Season 3 right now, but I can go back as far as-”

“No!” Lapis burst out, suddenly. It felt both wrong and right to get angry – it was familiar, which made it comforting, automatically. But it also reminded her of a place she didn’t want to be in again. A person she didn’t want to be again. “No, I don’t want to watch your stupid show! I want to _fucking sleep_ , Peridot. Why can you never let me sleep?!”

“You sleep,” Peridot said, the fact that her forehead was starting to sweat betraying her relatively calm tone. “I hear you snore.”

“I don’t- Shut up! That’s not the point! If you know I’m asleep, why would you make all this noise?!”

“My headphones broke.”

“Then watch your show when I’m awake!”

“I-“ Peridot began, with a defensive edge to her voice… But she cut herself off and bit her lower lip, instead. Lapis took this as a sign to plow straight ahead.

“And stop _talking_ to it! The actors inside your laptop can’t _hear you_!”

“I _know_ that!” Peridot said. “I’m not _stupid_!”

“Then why- Ugh!” Lapis sat up and chucked her pillow at Peridot, who ducked to avoid it. She succeeded, but then the pillow knocked over the glass of water that had been sitting beside Peridot’s laptop. Peridot positively _shrieked_. “What did you _do_?! My Physics report was on there, and all my lecture notes!”

Lapis’ rage subsided. Guilt took over. “I didn’t mean to-”

“And I had the _whole series_ of Camp Pining Hearts downloaded! Not to mention every fic I’ve written!”

Lapis’ brow furrowed. “Fic?”

“Yeah!” Peridot snapped. “Fanfiction! It’s-”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. I just- Look, I didn’t think you were going to _duck_ ,” Lapis insisted.

“So you just figured I’d get hit in the head. Great. Thanks.” Peridot said. She sounded distracted as she surveyed the damage to her laptop. “Come on, boot up… Boot up…”

“It was a pillow. It’s not like it was going to do any actual damage.”

Peridot’s only response was a strangled cry of frustration. “It won’t boot up! And even if I manage to salvage the ROM chip, I can’t fucking get a new laptop…”

Lapis sighed. “Well… Give it some time. Maybe when it dries out-” But she stopped talking when Peridot fixed her with an incredulous look. “Look, you’re the one with a tech-related major here, not me. I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“Well, don’t,” Peridot said.

“Peridot, I really didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“It still _did_.”

“Yeah, well… Look. I’ll get you a new laptop, okay? I’ll get you a new damn laptop if you just stop doing all your nerd stuff at night, when I’m trying to sleep.”

Peridot’s gaze was wary, but after a moment, she nodded. “Fine. Fine, okay.”

It was, if nothing else, a start.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly not sure ROM chip is exactly the part of a laptop I meant to refer to, but I'm pretty sure it is.
> 
> Anyway. Peridot's an Aerospace Engineering Major. Lapis is, of course, an Art Major. I looked on various school websites to get ideas for required courses, and will continue to do so, so as far as Temple University goes... It is going to be one hell of a hodge-podge of majors, courses, and influences.


End file.
